I've been giving Jedda a fair amount of RMB's, tripe, chicken/turkey necks and wings since she was a puppy (she's now 15 months old), but I was primarily feeding kibble (Fromm's LBP, then Merrick's grain free) and canned. For the last couple months, I've been feeding about 1/3 Honest Kitchen (dehydrated) 1/3 canned and kibble, and 1/3 raw. She's underweight, so I still feed her 3x a day. I decided to finally go with all raw, and over the last 2 weeks she's had only raw and Honest Kitchen. I am just finishing the boxes of HK, then we'll be all raw.

Anyway, she's been a shedding monster, but it was just undercoat, so I didn't think anything of it. Tonight I noticed a big patch of top coat that looks pretty thin - the skin underneath is fine, and she's not itchy, so after reading other posts, I'm gonna assume that's just the "detox". (Not sure if that's applicable when she's been on high quality food though?)

Ok, finally, my question: she's scheduled for her spay/gastropexy on April 4, and in addition to being a nervous nelly about her having to go under the knife, I just wonder if I'm putting her at any risk by switching her to all raw. Other than the patch of hair loss, she's had normal poo (still bigger and softer that I imagine it will be when we get off the HK), great appetite and energy - no negative effects that I can see. The hair loss worried me a little, and since she's always been underweight, I just don't want to mess with her system before surgery. I don't think another switch would be a good idea though either. Ack. Please advise! Thanks

TigervTeMar

03-28-2014 12:37 AM

if you're concerned about her fur you could consider giving her 'Show Stoppers' supplement. it's for skin and hair, my breeder advised me to use it in addition to Hokomix. I don't know if my pup has naturally shiny hair but Show Stoppers certainly isn't hurting him he looks fabulous

kjdreyer

03-28-2014 08:57 AM

Thanks for your reply, I do have a supplement coming from Amazon today!

kjdreyer

03-29-2014 03:08 PM

bump!

Sunflowers

03-29-2014 03:48 PM

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What kind of risk? I can't think of a single risk during surgery because of raw diet.

For coat, do try Feedsentials. The dogs I know who are fed raw with Feedsentials do not shed a lot at all.

Lauri & The Gang

03-29-2014 05:14 PM

If you are giving her Vitamin E you will want to stop that at least 3 days prior to her surgery.

Other than that there's nothing to worry about in regards to the diet.

kjdreyer

03-29-2014 07:28 PM

Lauri, thanks for the reply, I don't specifically give her vit E but I just started using Nupro, so I'll back off that till after.

And Sunflowers, by risk, I was just wondering if the timing of my switch wasn't the best. She had SIBO, although the last blood test and all her clinical signs indicate she's gotten past that. I've switched foods before, and I know it can play a little havoc on a dog's system, so when even her topcoat started shedding like mad, I was worried that I was weakening her system and immunity strength at a bad time, right before major surgery!

Plus, this is the first time I've gotten a puppy spayed myself, always having adopted from shelters, so I'm a more worried than I should be! Thanks for the replies!

Sunflowers

03-29-2014 10:15 PM

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Gotcha. Well, do go with your gut. If you feel she should be stronger when she goes under the knife, reschedule.